‘CIFIA Bill will check financial fraud, looting of treasury’

Audit expert and Pro-term President of the Chartered Institute of Forensic Investigative Auditors of Nigeria, Victoria Enape, has said that the enactment of the CIFIA bill by the Senate last week will see to the success of anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria.

Enape, in a statement issued in Abuja, noted that the Chartered Institute of Forensic Investigative Auditors (CIFIA) bill will curb financial fraud and crimes responsible for the looting of government funds.

The expert, while commending the Upper Legislative Chamber for its focus and commitment towards ensuring transparency in governance, noted that the Bill for an Act to establish the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria, “represent a global paradigm shift from traditional auditing practice to skilful deployment of science and technological tools to prevent, detect, or resolve financial fraud or expose possible criminal activity concealed in financial accounts.”

According to her, anti-fraud professionals whose academic background cut across accounting, law, criminology, cyber security, banking, economics are tasked with resolving and exposing concealed or suspected financial fraud.

She said: “The inability and inadequacies in traditional audit had led this country to where are today.  This calls for the creation a professional body  called CIFIA to champion and regulate this specialized area of accounting and enhances transparency in advanced audits.

“The separation of Accountant General’s office and Auditor General’s Office shows that someone has to prepare the financial statements and another person to check it.

“The separation of powers in the three tiers of government is another good example. Merging of forensic and investigative auditing with accounting professional body is like merging the Executive with Legislature and Judiciary, which can never work.

“This implies that there is need to have a professional body like Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors in Nigeria to serve as a check to the financial statements prepared by financial accountants and also achieve the agenda of the Federal Government in combating fraud, corruption and other financial crimes as enshrined in Section 15(5) of the Constitution, as amended.

“It goes without saying that if Nigeria must make progress in our collective prevention and fight against financial fraud, we must develop and increase the standard of advanced auditing system that engenders integrity, objectivity and trust in Accounting and Financial Reporting Process, to inspire public confidence in the Nigerian Financial and Economic system”.